Casey Wittenberg was the player of the year on the Web.com Tour in 2012. / Jonathan Ferrey, Getty Images

by Steve DiMeglio, USA TODAY Sports

by Steve DiMeglio, USA TODAY Sports

With every new season, hope springs eternal for golfers of all stripes - the aging veteran who wants to prove his best days aren't behind him; the young pro hoping to take the next step; rookies looking to make an immediate name; the amateur who wants to break 100, 90, 80, 70; the kid who will try and try until he makes his first birdie.

In other words, a breakthrough.

On the professional level, considering the depth of worldwide talent, predicting a breakthrough player in 2013 can make one look foolish - or very, very smart. For instance, for those of you who said Stacy Lewis would be the Player of the Year on the LPGA tour in 2012, congrats. It wasn't that far-fetched - she was a great amateur and had won a major championship. But still, having seen what Yani Tseng did the past two years - 19 wins worldwide - how could anyone see Lewis coming and Tseng falling?

And Ted Potter, Jr.? Anyone? A great win by the lefty at The Greenbrier.

So here goes with our predictions for players you want to keep an eye on in 2013.

On the PGA Tour, look for the Web.com Tour's best player in 2012 to make an impact on golf's best tour. That would be Casey Wittenberg, who was the 2003 U.S. Amateur runner-up and finished 13th in the Masters in 2004, the best finish by an amateur in 41 years. Back then, he was considered a sure thing when it came to breakout conversations.

But he fell - and fell hard. But after bouncing around mini-tours for years, he earned his way onto the former Nationwide Tour and showed his promise this year with two wins and the money title on the developmental tour. He also had the second-best scoring average at 69.45 and finished in a tie for 10th at the U.S. Open.

At 28, he has years of trying golf under his belt and still has the talent to be what many thought he would be years ago. In a press release after he was named by his peers as the POY, he said the Web.com Tour made him a better player and that he has confidence heading into the 2013 season on the PGA Tour. The experience of unfulfilled expectations and never giving up will help Wittenberg, too.

Only seven players have avoided Q school and went directly to the PGA Tour after college - Gary Hallberg, Scott Verplank, Phil Mickelson, Justin Leonard, Ryan Moore, Tiger Woods - and Bud Cauley. Cauley, a former Alabama All-American, grabbed attention in the 2011 Frys.com Open and followed up with a solid 2012 campaign - six top-10s and finishes of 25th or better in nearly half of his starts. Just 22, Cauley is still learning - the courses; the travel; the best places to eat and avoid; the best hotels to stay at and the ones you don't check in to; and the delicate balance of practice and play.

He's not the biggest player around, is not the longest player around, and is not the best iron player around. But Cauley knows how to putt and how to get the ball in the hole. And he doesn't turn 4s into 5s or 5s into 6s or 6s into 7s. In other words, he has golf smarts in his course management. Here's saying he takes the next step.

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On the LPGA tour, just look for the Tam O'Shanter cap - under it will be Vicky Hurst. As with so many others before her, she was destined for stardom as soon as she teed it up for the first time on the LPGA tour as a professional. And why wouldn't there have been such predictions? The stylish, perfect swing; a résumé that include amateur brilliance; turning pro while she was in high school; and five wins on the Futures tour at ages 17 and 18, a year in which she also set a single-season earnings record.

But growing pains be what they are, Hurst has yet to win on the LPGA tour in nearly 100 starts as a professional. Last year, however, she had three top-10s and made cuts in 18 of 27 starts. Her work with swing coach Gary Gilchrist continues to pay off, and she's just too talented not to win. And soon.

Last year, this player had just one top-10 and ended the year ranked No. 58 in the world. There was a time she was considered a sure-fire Hall of Famer. While many others believe her best days are long behind her - the days she contended in major championships year after year while a teen-ager, the year she missed the cut in the PGA Tour event by one shot. But others still hold out hope that Michelle Wie, who is still just 23, will be the force so many thought she would be when they first saw her when she was 12.

The thinking here is that she's just too talented, remains driven, and just can't go another season in which she averaged 73.48 strokes per round, as she did in 2012. Yes, there are far too many times she looks like her head is clogged up with far too many swing thoughts. Yes, there are times is looks like she could putt just as well with an actual broom. Yes, there are times she looks disinterested and would rather be designing clothes instead of designing a way to make a birdie or par.

But with a degree from Stanford University under her belt, with a year she'd rather forget under her belt driving her, and with it being a Solheim Cup year, Wie will be a better Wie and not the one that makes people wonder what she'll do after shooting 66. This year, she won't follow up 66s or 67s with 76s or 77s.